Azam marks Gloucester's card on the fickleness of the French

Olivier Azam has been in demand recently. First there was the interview conducted in drenching rain after Gloucester's game in Bourgoin last Friday night, the hooker in his stockings paddling in puddles as French television pumped him for information about the English side's four-try victory and the ins and outs of playing in the Premiership.

"They wanted to know the inside stuff," says Azam, who was not allowed to shower until the crew had enough for half-a-dozen programmes. Back in England Azam has been trying to explain some of the more unexpected French results that have laced the Heineken Cup as the competition goes into the second half of the pool matches this weekend.

The 10-times capped hooker, the son of a famous French rugby father, is ideally placed to do this, having split his 15-year playing career almost equally between England and France. After two years with his home side, Tarbes, he had two spells at Clermont totalling six years and is now in his second spell at Gloucester. Azam's analysis is complicated but so is French rugby. First, he says, there was the hangover from the World Cup: "French rugby was disappointed with the World Cup. It wasn't meant to be like that. France at home were meant to win."

And then there was the consequent late start to the French league season. Clubs went into the Heineken Cup after only two Top 14 matches whereas English clubs had played eight league and cup games. "We had a perfectly normal pre-season and were ready whereas they were not match sharp. We had two months to prepare, whereas they had two weeks. It was like a three- or four-month holiday before going straight into the Heineken Cup."

The 33-year-old goes on to explain other influences which shape the way French clubs prioritise games. First and foremost is the domestic championship.

"The Top 14 is massive and clubs like Clermont have to make it their priority. They target it, which is a bit of a shame because they have the potential to do well in [European] competition. They have the quality in their squad but they try to do it in a clever way. They try to get position in the league and, if they have something to play for in the last two games of the Heineken Cup, they go for it."

However, local arguments can come ahead of European honours, which explains why Castres, when they were in the Heineken Cup, were usually more concerned with winning their derby against Albi.

"In France we first have to be champions of our village. Old rivalry has been the subject of French rugby for many years and we like it. But people get mentally tired by this kind of game," Azam says, revealing a lack of surprise at Biarritz's defeat by Glasgow last Sunday that is common to those who had seen anything of the Basque derby the previous weekend. Biarritz spent 80 minutes beating themselves up to secure a 14-10 win at Bayonne.

He was expecting Sean Lineen's side to have a more torrid time at the Parc des Sports Aguiléra last night, and likewise London Irish in Perpignan today, where the Catalans cherish that other French favourite - victory in front of the home support - above anything.

"The Heineken Cup is massive in England and that is shown in the interest of the clubs," says Azam. "It has been driven by the top clubs who are trying to win it every year. In France it's a bit of a mixed message for the public."

All of which nicely describes the predicament of Bourgoin, serial under-achievers in the Heineken Cup and today's visitors to Kingsholm. "People from Bourgoin are a more traditional French public," says Azam. "They love the championship and big games like Toulouse and Paris. They are a bit less interested by a Gloucester or a Welsh team."

This is Bourgoin's sixth consecutive season in the Heineken Cup and they have yet to make the last eight. Six thousand watched Gloucester put the game beyond their reach by half-time eight days ago but the Stade Pierre Rajon is normally full to its 9,500 capacity for championship matches.

Away from home in the Heineken Cup Bourgoin have lost their last 15 matches but Gloucester still have to be wary. They may be riding high in Pool Two, with 14 points from a possible 15, but the Premiership leaders have been stung by wounded French sides before. Last Nov- ember Agen, struggling at home and beaten by Edinburgh the previous week, forgot their priorities lay elsewhere and put in one of the upset performances of the season at Kingsholm. The French can be like that.

French flops

Munster 36 Clermont 13 The Irish side bounced back from defeat at Wasps with a five-try win over a weakened Clermont side